None of us immune
all of us sinners
except the immutable Son of man.
He chose the via dolorosa
only he could
only he would
bear all our misery and loss
on rough wooden beams of
a Roman cross:
ugly method of torture
cruel means of execution
for common criminals.

Sept. 23, 2015 – Festival of the Sacrifice: ISIS videotapes shootings of three men executed for crime of being Christians. The victims were part of a group of 250 Syrians abducted in February during Islamic State attacks on 35 villages along the Khabur River in Hasakah province. Their captors threaten same fate to rest of group if $12 million ransom is not paid. Negotiations “have been suspended due to the unbearable demands of the terror group,” says Osama Edward, director of Assyrian Human Rights Network (based in Stockholm, Sweden).*